ATUM SUSTENIDO

The Swimmers - People Are Soft (2009)

From the opening track “Shelter” to “A Hundred Hearts”— the insatiably catchy gang vocal about the competing pulls of the human heart—to “Drug Party”—a dream sequence of social disconnection propelled by overblown distorted guitars and brash snare hits—to “What This World Is Coming To”— a diffuse, tender verse that collapses into quirky keyboard lines, handclaps and epic choruses—the sounds begin to form the fractured and sentimental cast of characters that make up this record. The apocalyptic electro-pop of “Give Me the Sun,” “Nervous Wreck’s” triumphant chorus (“sing without and hold together”), and the nostalgic spoken lyric of “Try To Settle In” all converge with the rest of the songs to flesh out the full meaning of the album’s title—in their isolation and comfort, allure and fragility, resignation and transcendence: People Are Soft.